Courses

    Introduces the critical study of film, exploring theoretical, historical, and technical concerns while presenting a survey of important film periods and genres. Students will hone critical-thinking, close-analysis, and writing skills. The course will cover a wide variety of films, approaching them from numerous perspectives, considering both the effects films have on individual viewers and their ability to reflect culture.

    Introduces the technical and aesthetic principles behind the production, consumption, analysis, and interpretation of films. The purpose of this class is to help us understand and think about movies critically, as technological, cultural, and artistic products. We will study films in different contexts and discuss the importance of movies as cultural expression.

    Instructs students in making Super-8 films. Covers use of cameras and editing equipment, basic editing and splicing techniques, and analysis of pertinent films. May emphasize making personal, experimental films or making narrative sound films, according to instructor. Students need to purchase materials and rent the necessary equipment. The Film Studies Program maintains an equipment pool with modest rental fees for students needing equipment. Prerequisites: Requires prerequisite course of FILM 1502 (minimum grade D-).

    Familiarizes students with current trends and major directors in international cinema. Students attend specific films screened in class and/or offered in the International Film Series, and read and write about these films. Prereq., FILM 1502 or 6 hours humanities courses involving critical writing.

    Varying topics on important individuals, historical developments, groupings of films, film directors, critical and theoretical issues in film. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours, provided the topics are different.

    Analyzes the form and structure of narrative, experimental non-narrative, and documentary films. Familiarizes students with the general characteristics of the classic three-act structure, principles of adaptation, form and content of experimental films, structural approaches, and the basic formal, narrative, and rhetorical strategies of documentary filmmaking. Prereq., FILM 1502.

    Provides students with artistic foundational hands-on experience in integrated use of media software in both the PC and Mac creative imaging making digital working environments. Includes fundamentals in general computer maintenance, creative and practical audio editing, image management and manipulation, and creative moving image practice. Prerequisites: Restricted to Film (FILM or FMST) majors only.
    Explores, through close reading and original student work, the form and structure of the screenplay from the writer's perspective. Students will begin by analyzing structural and character elements of such screenplays as Chinatown and Witness, then analyze screenplays of their choosing. Students will learn the basics of screenwriting form, then develop and write 10 minutes of an original screenplay. Prereq., FILM 1502. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 0-26 credits (Freshmen) only.

    Covers basic camera, editing, and splicing techniquesfor Super-8 film. Equipment is available at the film studies office for a modest rental fee. Prereq., FILM 1502.

    Study of films designed as trilogies, drawing on a wide range of international cinema. Films include Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy (India), Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors Trilogy (Poland), Francois Truffaut's Antoine Doinel cycle (France), and Abbas Kiarostami's Iran Trilogy (Iran). Restricted to FILM/FMST majors. Non-majors will need instructor's consent.

    Film production class focusing on developing a basic understanding of the aesthetics and principles of Cinematography. Through projects, screenings, and critiques, students learn creative camera lighting processes. Prereqs., FILM 1502 and 2000 or 2300 with an averaged combined grade in these two courses of 3.15, with a minimum overall GPA of 2.0. Prerequisites: Restricted to Film (FILM or FMST) majors only.

    Surveys the major Asian directors from China, India, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Recommended prereq., FILM 1502. Restricted to FILM/FMST majors. Non-majors will need instructor's consent.

    Surveys the classics of international cinema from the 1960s to the present. Recommended prereq., FILM 1502. Restricted to FILM/FMST majors. Non-majors will need instructor's consent.

    Includes analysis of independent and experimental animation and an introduction to various animation techniques (object, line, collage, sand or paint on glass, Xerox, cameraless, pixellation, etc.). Students produce exercise films and a final film exploring these techniques. Prereq., FILM 2000 or 2300. Recommended prereq., FILM 2500.

    Eighteen films depict our capacities for good and evil. Topics addressed include the following: the Holocaust, Jung's concept of "The Shadow," the Seven Deadly Sins, altruistic and sociopathic personalities, capital punishment, the redemptive narrative, and the satanic in film. Same as FARR 2510. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: ideals and values.

    Covers the basics of "Why you need lighting", color temp, as well as camera techniques, lighting theory, and lighting set-ups for still and motion picture film video. Emphasizes hands on as well as theory. Prereq., FILM 2000 or 2300. Recommended prereq., FILM 1502.

    Historical-aesthetic survey dealing with various national cinemas, taught in conjunction with the appropriate language department. Typical offerings are the French film, the German film, the Russian film, and so on. Also offers a more detailed approach to a more restricted subject, i.e., film comedy, women filmmakers, German expressionist cinema, Italian neorealism. May be repeated up to 12 total credit hours within the same term with departmental consent. Non-majors will need instructor's consent. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Junior or Senior) FILM (FILM or FMST) majors only.
    Focuses on the work of a single director or a group of related directors. Course content varies each semester. Consult the online Schedule Planner for specific topic. May be repeated up to 12 total credit hours with departmental consent. . Non-majors need instructor consent. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Junior or Senior) FILM (FILM or FMST) majors only.
    Intensive, critical investigation of the films of one of cinema's greatest directors, Alfred Hitchcock. Concepts to be examined include authorship, desire, gender, and film acting. Critical and theoretical writings about Hitchcock are explored. Paper and exams required. Non-majors will need instructor's consent. Prerequisites: Restricted to Film (FILM or FMST) majors only.
    Offers students both theoretical and practical experience in various specialized areas of cinematic production. Topics vary but include production in the documentary, fictional narrative, animation, computer animation, and experimental genres. May be repeated up to 9 total credit hours. Prereq., FILM 2000 or 2300. Prerequisites: Restricted to Film (FILM or FMST) majors only.

    Provides a historical and theoretical introduction tothe documentary film. Examines the historical beginnings of documentary film as well as exploring contemporary documentary practice. Canonical moments of documentary history and lesser known examples of documentary film work will be explored. Prereq., FILM 1502. Recommended prereq., FILM 3051.

    Examines the representation of women both in mainstream movies and in women's counter-cinema that resists traditional form, content, and spectator-text relationships of Hollywood models. Emphasizes work by key women filmmakers such as Margarethe Von Trotta, Lizzy Borden, and Yvonne Rainer, as well as readings in feminist film theory. Approved for arts and sciences core curriculum: human diversity. Prerequisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors) only.
    Explores alternative methods of film processing and filmic image manipulation. Through projects, film screenings, lectures and discussions students will learn fine arts approaches to creative control for the moving image. Prereq., FILM 1502, 2000, 2300 or 2500, or instructor consent. Prerequisites: Restricted to Film (FMST) majors only.

    Presents an aerial survey of the history of Western drama as represented in film: Greek drama, the Elizabethans, Ibsen/Strindberg to O'Neill/Williams, Beckett, etc. Prereq., FILM 1502. Recommended prereq., FILM 3051.

    Examines color and cinema from historical, technological, aesthetic and theoretical perspectives. Students will be required to complete both creative and scholarly assignments.

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